Hill began his work with a discussion of the impact of Gresham College and London science on the intellectual environment of revolutionary England. A fundamental change that took place involved questioning the superiority of the ancients. Gresham College in London, endowed by the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, led this movement and encouraged new learning in math, science, and medicine. In these subjects, traditional lecturers at Oxford and Cambridge considered the ancients such as Aristotle, Euclid, Galen, and Ptolemy as authorities. Those teaching at Gresham questioned the ancient standards and argued that more could be learned regarding the universe. According to Hill, Gresham led to improvements in English navigation and weaponry, as well as a general availability of knowledge for those of the merchant and artisan classes through public lectures. Those at Gresham attacked the privilege of medical guilds over apothecaries who were generally more knowledgeable. The guild prohibited apothecaries from practicing, because competition would have cut the cost of medical care and opened the field to more people.

Since the overall downturn in the markets that occurred late in 2008, we have seen interesting market behavior with the major currency pairs in the foreign exchange market. Many traders who have been active in the markets over the past few years have been able to see just how such an economic crisis can impact the foreign exchange market, and for certain traders this has presented a profit opportunity in the form of fundamental economic indicators that can be used as trading signals.